Raw Power

Product Details

The Stooges guitarist James Williamson left his T-Top-equipped 1969 Les Paul^® at our shop so we could reference it to design our Raw Power^™ humbuckers. The result is a more aggressive sound than you get with our standard Imperial^®. The Raw Power^™ has a perceived fullness due to its natural compression and the neck pickup is slightly hotter than the bridge pickup, like James’ original set.

For more background on this pickup you can read our blog post James Williamson And The Making Of The Raw Power Humbucker.

Avg. DC: Neck 8.1K, Bridge 7.9K, High Wind Bridge 8.4K (Read about DC resistance)
Recommended Potentiometers: 500k
Recommended Capacitor: 0.022μF

'50s-style Pre-wired Kit for Les Pauls

Upgrading the electronics in a Les Paul^® yourself couldn’t be easier than it is with our Lollar Pre-wired Kits. The kits are hand-wired in our shop and meet Jason Lollar’s preferred specifications. This kit can be used in just about any Les Paul equipped with two pickups that each have their own volume and tone controls.

Whether you’re installing new pickups and want high-quality electronics to go with them, or you want to upgrade the stock electronics in your Les Paul^®, our pre-wired kits are a great option. We’ve done most of the work so all that’s left for you to do is install the kit in your guitar and solder in your pickups, output jack and switch.

MORE DETAILS
 

Pickup Dimensions

Lollar Raw Power Pickups

Standard Covers

Nickel

Chrome

Gold

Black Chrome

Lightly-aged Nickel

Lightly-Aged Chrome

Lightly-Aged Gold

Uncovered Double Black

Uncovered Zebra

Uncovered Reversed Zebra

Satin Gold

Satin Nickel

No-hole Nickel

No-hole Chrome

No-hole Gold

No-hole Black Chrome

No-hole Lightly-aged Nickel

No-hole Lightly-aged Chrome

No-hole Lightly-aged Gold

No-hole Satin Gold

No-hole Satin Nickel

Made-to-Order Covers

Choose any combination of Cover Ring and Top shown below.
NOTE: Pickups with Made-to-Order covers may require additional time to build and fulfill.

Chrome/Tortoise

Chrome/Pearl

Chrome/White

Chrome/Matte Black

Chrome/Gloss Black

Chrome/Parchment

Chrome/Cream

Nickel/Tortoise

Nickel/Pearl

Nickel/White

Nickel/Matte Black

Nickel/Gloss Black

Nickel/Parchment

Nickel/Cream

Gold/Tortoise

Gold/Pearl

Gold/White

Gold/Matte Black

Gold/Gloss Black

Gold/Parchment

Gold/Cream

Black Chrome/Tortoise

Black Chrome/Pearl

Black Chrome/White

Black Chrome/Matte Black

Black Chrome/Gloss Black

Black Chrome/Parchment

Black Chrome/Cream

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a sound difference between pickups with covers and without?
Metal covers can have some effect on tone, though it is often subtle. The metal parts can attenuate some of the highs, meaning that covered pickups will be a touch darker and warmer. Uncovered pickups are a bit more bright or focused.

Note that we do not recommend removing your covers to compare the difference. Breaking the solder joint that attaches the cover will void your warranty.

What’s the deal with single versus four-conductor pickups?
Single conductor leads have a hot lead inside a braided metal exterior, which functions as ground. Single conductor wiring is appropriate for traditional Les Paul-style wiring with a three-way switch and separate volume & tone controls for each pickup.

Four-conductor wiring gives each of the humbucker’s two coils their own leads. This enables you to take advantage of more complex switching like in/out of phase, series/parallel, or coil splitting. If your guitar has extra mini-switches or push/pull pots for these options, you’re likely going to want four conductor.

Can I get unpotted pickups?
Though most manufacturers did not wax pot their pickups in the 1950s and 60s, we choose to pot our pickups because of the strength and stability it adds to the coil. We frequently see coils shifting in vintage and modern unpotted pickups which often leads to the need of costly repair or outright replacement. We feel that the added stability and protection of the coil outweighs any perceived improvement in tone.

What values of potentiometers and capacitors do you recommend for humbucking pickups?
The most common/traditional choices are 500k pots (both volume and tone) and .022μF caps—and these are the values we typically recommend. That said, there are no hard and fast rules. You can read more about how different pot and cap values affect tone in this two-part blog post: Part I - Pots, Part II - Caps.

How far from my strings should I set my Raw Power pickups?
Generally, as close to the strings as possible while avoiding picking hand interference or magnetic pull.

Can I get an F-Spaced Raw Power Humbucker?
We do not offer an F-Spaced version of the Raw Power.

Which way do I orient my humbuckers during installation?
The conventional orientation is with the screw sides of each pickup on the outside (closest to the bridge and fingerboard).

Can't find an answer to your question? Try our general FAQ page or give us a call at 206-463-9838, M–F, 9AM–5PM Pacific Time.